Prophecy of the Old King: Verse 1 The Gauntlet Prologue

Sewer Rat

I scurry along, it must have fallen down to the sewers, I had seen it. I picked through one stack, then another. It had to be here somewhere. I was about to give up, when I saw it. I fished it out of the grime and polished it with a rag. The ring gleamed, but not as brightly as it had when on the king's hand. I put it on and admired my slime covered hand, imagining what my life would have been like had my family not abandoned me. The ring suited me, but I hastily took it off and slipped it into my pocket. If my fellow scavengers saw the ring they would nick it. Still they would think it strange if I went back empty handed, so I continued to sift through the slime, trying to find more treasures. 

All sorts of gems appeared among the waste from the surface. I found an intact green bottle, which was a marvel for a scavenger, usually we only find pieces of glass. I staggered back through the filth, stopping every now and then to pick up shiny bottle caps. I liked shiny things, so did all scavengers, they were little glimmers of hope in all the stinking ooze that was our home. I wouldn't be able to keep the bottle caps for myself I thought gloomily. I never can keep the stuff I find, I have to trade it for food so I can survive, after all I could never be a hunter, they braved too many dangers to get food. I'm much too lily-livered and anyway I'm the best scavenger there has ever been. I'm even better than Crow, if only she was around so I could beat her at a scavenging contest. But she went missing years ago, probably eaten by a sewer creature. We always argued, but I guess it feels a bit more empty here without her. Though more scavenging for me, so there are upsides.

Bending down I pick up what I thought was another bottle cap, but it's a coin. I look down into the sludge and spot a whole bunch of coins. Greedily I scoop them up. I don't usually find money lying around as the other scavengers pick them up most of the time. Then again no scavengers usually come this far into the tunnels as there is too much danger. In fact I should not be out here either.

Most of us sewer rats are either unwanted children of the surface, or children of the few adults down here. But they might as well be orphans from the lack of parenting the adults do. You have to look out for yourself down here. I'm a member of the abandoned generation. A few of us still hope one day that our parents will come back, so every now and again we go topside. Today for example was a festival day, so I went topside to watch from the alleys as the city-folk danced. That was when I saw a shadow slip the ring off the king's finger and run away as the king's guard pursued. The shadow was in such a hurry to escape, it didn't realise it dropped the ring. I had then blindly chased the ring, taking me out of the safe zone of tunnels. I dash back through the tunnels, hoping to avoid danger and stop panting at the Trading place.

"Where have you been Rat? And what have you got there?" a voice asks. I turn to see my friend Flea.

"Mind your own business," I retort. Flea had always been too eager to know everything, but scavengers are too gloomy to answer questions. He was a good caring friend, but if he didn't learn now he would probably end up killed by another scavenger.

"Let me see Rat, I won't steel it," Flea insists.

"Fine, come on, I got to trade it anyway," I sigh, then to the rest of the scavengers I shout, "you best all come round, I got some real treasure here."

Everyone gathers round to see what I have to trade.

"This had better not be another false claim Rat," one of the older scavengers shouts.

"Please, my claims are never false," I reply grinning and showing them the coins.

"How many are there?" someone demands.

"I don't know. Can anyone count?" I ask.

"I can," says a man squeezing forward, he counts them, "Five gold, nine silver and eleven bronze."

This is big, offers start raining in. I cannot hear anything feasible in the din, but I know I'm hungry and thirsty and I'm sure Flea is too. Just before I can start bargaining for anything a voice calls:

"Rat, Flea, what's going on?"

I turn and see the kid running towards us.

"Hey Bug, Rat just got the best find ever," Flea told him.

"Awesome," said Bug shoving through the rabble to sit down with us.

"Ok listen up, I want three drinks of Ale, three apples and some pig," I demand of the crowd.

Eventually, after I have haggled the barbarians down to a reasonable price, we are all stuffed full and down by only a silver and five bronze coins.

"Flea you got any ideas what we should get next?" I ask.

"Wouldn't mind a weapon to keep my family safe," he replies.

"Anyone trading weapons?" I ask the crowd at large.

"I've a sword here," someone calls.

"I got a knife," another yells.

After further bartering I own a sword, Flea has an axe and Bug holds a knife which Flea disapproves of, but Bug does not want to be left out. There is nothing else we want so, although I still possess many coins, we trudge off much to the disappointed groans of the crowd. Whilst we are walking back, talking about how lucky my find was and my generosity, I hear a clicking sound. There are so many bugs in this muck so I take no notice. Then I see a huge shadow scurry through the tunnel.

"Bug, Flea, I think a mutated giant of your people is trailing us," I said as calmly as possible, "I just hope it isn't what I think it is."

Then we hear the mechanical screech. Machinery does not fall in the sewers, it is worth far too much to the surface. The only explanation is our worst nightmare has come true.

"What do you think it is?" Flea asks.

"You know exactly what it is Flea, you just wish you were wrong," I reply.

"But why are they here?" Bug asks.

"That doesn't matter right now, we have to run," I state feeling responsible, I knew exactly why they were here. But before we can move the giant bugs surround us snapping their pincers.

"We're all doomed. The king wants any excuse to exterminate us sewer rats," Bug moaned.

"Yes Bug, but falling apart isn't very helpful at the moment, we need a way out," Flea lectured Bug.

"Well you hypocrite, do you have an idea or are you just as frozen as Bug?" I reproach him.

"Fine we are doomed," Flea replies.

"Great, just as we got a stroke of good luck we get killed," I grumble as they close in on us, their saws whirling.